News

Global Outlook 2018

Every two years the CRCSI undertakes the mighty task of summarising trends --- from many sources --- affecting the global spatial industry. This year’s edition builds on the previous Global Outlook reports published in 2014 and 2016.

The report examines the market size for many of the component parts of the spatial industry and its technologies drawing mostly on previously published material. For example, some estimate that the geospatial industry (comprising Global Navigation Satellite Systems, GIS, Earth Observation, and 3D Scanning) is growing steadily with the 2018 market worth USD $339 billion and forecast to grow to USD $439.2 billion by 2020.

The biggest take-home message from this edition surrounds the fourth industrial revolution and how spatial technologies will substantially add value to many new technologies (listed below). Carrying on the trend of the last five years, we continue to witness tremendous changes in the roles of our spatial data providers.

No longer are they simply supplying data to geospatial developers, the market has opened and we are seeing increased demand for spatial information from mainstream, non-geospatial developers. Core business is evolving from “map-making” to “digital insight”.

Price Waterhouse Coopers sees the Australian industry sectors ‘Space and Spatial’ when together as an emerging medium-sized industry sector with a strong growth path, strong competitive advantage and moderate potential for employment growth. The report delves into why this is and the authors, Dr Isabel Coppa, Dr Peter Woodgate and Dr Zaffar Mohammad-Ghouse, highlight the three interconnected trends of global technology developments, global spatial markets and technologies, and the global economic picture.

The report also includes a review of allied technologies that will be influenced by or will influence, the use of spatial technologies. These are broadly referred to as the cyber-physical systems and comprise many digital technologies; mobile devices, cloud computing, augmented reality and wearable technologies, multilevel customer interaction and profiling, big data analytics and advanced algorithms, smart sensors, 3D printing, authentication and fraud detection, advanced human-machine interfaces, Internet of Things platforms, blockchains, drones, robots, and location-detection technologies.

Added to this list are: Artificial Intelligence, autonomous vehicles, cyber threats, advanced sensor technologies, space and satellite developments including micro, nano and cube sats, and satellite constellations of dozens or hundreds of satellites functioning together in pre-designed synchronisation. Spatial technologies will operate in tandem with most of these technologies to offer substantial value adding and new applications, many of which are not yet realised.